Officials seek alternatives to Piney Point water plan

Aerial photos of the former Piney Point phosphate plant located just south of the Hillsborough-Manatee county line, adjacent Port Manatee. The retention ponds are nearing their capacity. (August 29, 2013, Herald-Tribune Staff Photo by Thomas Bender)

Published: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at 3:42 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at 4:55 p.m.

MANATEE COUNTY - Manatee County commissioners agreed Tuesday they need answers to a lot of questions before they approve a plan to pump phosphogypsum wastewater from Piney Point underground.

The biggest questions: Exactly what is in the water? What are the alternative disposal methods and their costs? And why should Manatee bear the cost and liability?

At issue is what to do with as much as 1.2 billion gallons of contaminated water left in gypsum ponds on an abandoned phosphate processing site near Port Manatee.

Manatee County Utilities has applied for a Class I well permit, which, if approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, will mark the first time phosphogypsum water has been injected underground.

“Why are we the guinea pigs?” asked Alan Jones of Jones Potato Farm, one of roughly 20 who spoke against the plan during a commissisioners' workshop. “This is a state issue. Why is it Manatee County's and our cross to bear?”

Jones joined other farmers and the Farm Bureau to warn commissioners that the injected water could poison irrigation supplies.

County staff and an official from the DEP tried to assure the commissioners that injection is safest.

A Class I well pumps waste into geological formations hundreds of feet below the level of drinking water supplies. Impermeable layers of rock are supposed to keep the tainted water from migrating upward.

Florida has 242 such wells, said Chris Klena, deputy director of the DEP's division of water resource management. “We know how to permit them. We make sure they're operated and constructed properly.”

“The risk of not doing anything is greater than the risk perceived with the deep well,” she said.

Klena alluded to existing circumstances at the site, where a breach in a berm or a rupture in a liner could release toxic water into the nearby harbor or other surface waters. “These ponds are like tubs, and the tubs are old and leaky,” she said.

Mike Gore, head of Manatee Utilities, said the water quality in the ponds has improved over the years because of rainwater, evaporation and the addition of saltwater from the dredging of Port Manatee.

The Class I well would drain the ponds now, alleviating a historic environmental problem. The present owner of the site, HRK Holdings of New York, would pay to dispose of the waste. That, in turn, would defray the costs for the well, which the utility will need in a few years anyway for a reverse-osmosis plant it intends to build, Gore explained.

“Some of us are sold on the science, some aren't,” Gore conceded.

The history of Piney Point, where previous mishaps have led to fish kills and algal blooms, fuels the skepticism.

“Trust me, if something's going to happen, it's going to happen on that site,” Commissioner Carol Whitmore said. “It makes me nervous Manatee County is going to be the test case.”

Commissioner Robin DiSabatino agreed. “I want to avoid sending Manatee County into bankruptcy trying to clean this up,” she said.

From the audience, not a single speaker expressed support for the well.

Dick Eckenrod, the former director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, said he intended to. But, after listening to the dialogue, he said, “I'm getting on the bandwagon to put a brake on this thing.”

He suggested exploring alternatives, such as reverse-osmosis. Noting the resilience of estuaries, Eckenrod said a measured, controlled release of the phosphogypsum water aboveground should also be considered.

“There's no such thing as a stable geological environment,” said David Woodhouse, who introduced himself as a geologist and former consultant with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Woodhouse referred to some of the contents in the phosphogypsum water, such as radium, heavy metals, ammonia and phosphorous, which, although they do not meet the concentrations to be classified as “hazardous,” can still be toxic.

“We're dealing with some nasty stuff here. If something goes wrong, someone is going to be paying,” he said. “I'm a taxpayer, and I don't want to be paying.”

The DEP's Klena said the commissioners could request financial help from Manatee's legislative delegation.

In the meantime, they asked their staff and Klena to compile a list of alternatives, and their costs.

EARLIER: State Department of Environmental Protection officials and Manatee County utility planners sought today to reassure the public that a plan to inject hundreds of millions of gallons of treated waste water from the former Piney Point contaminated site will pose no threat to farmers and other residents.

The state DEP and Manatee County staff have recommended a plan to inject the treated into the Florida aquifer in an area below and separate from the part of the aquifer from which the county gets drinking water and irrigation.

About 75 people were in attendance at today's Manatee County Commission workshop.

Some commissioners have expressed skepticism about the plan. And the local Farm Bureau is strongly opposed.

But state and county officials said today that similar wells are operating problem-free around Florida. They said other options, including disposing of the treated waste into local surface waters, posed far greater risk.

<p><em>MANATEE COUNTY</em> - Manatee County commissioners agreed Tuesday they need answers to a lot of questions before they approve a plan to pump phosphogypsum wastewater from Piney Point underground.</p><p>The biggest questions: Exactly what is in the water? What are the alternative disposal methods and their costs? And why should Manatee bear the cost and liability?</p><p>At issue is what to do with as much as 1.2 billion gallons of contaminated water left in gypsum ponds on an abandoned phosphate processing site near Port Manatee.</p><p>Manatee County Utilities has applied for a Class I well permit, which, if approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, will mark the first time phosphogypsum water has been injected underground.</p><p>“Why are we the guinea pigs?” asked Alan Jones of Jones Potato Farm, one of roughly 20 who spoke against the plan during a commissisioners' workshop. “This is a state issue. Why is it Manatee County's and our cross to bear?”</p><p>Jones joined other farmers and the Farm Bureau to warn commissioners that the injected water could poison irrigation supplies.</p><p>County staff and an official from the DEP tried to assure the commissioners that injection is safest.</p><p>A Class I well pumps waste into geological formations hundreds of feet below the level of drinking water supplies. Impermeable layers of rock are supposed to keep the tainted water from migrating upward.</p><p>Florida has 242 such wells, said Chris Klena, deputy director of the DEP's division of water resource management. “We know how to permit them. We make sure they're operated and constructed properly.”</p><p>“The risk of not doing anything is greater than the risk perceived with the deep well,” she said.</p><p>Klena alluded to existing circumstances at the site, where a breach in a berm or a rupture in a liner could release toxic water into the nearby harbor or other surface waters. “These ponds are like tubs, and the tubs are old and leaky,” she said.</p><p>Mike Gore, head of Manatee Utilities, said the water quality in the ponds has improved over the years because of rainwater, evaporation and the addition of saltwater from the dredging of Port Manatee.</p><p>The Class I well would drain the ponds now, alleviating a historic environmental problem. The present owner of the site, HRK Holdings of New York, would pay to dispose of the waste. That, in turn, would defray the costs for the well, which the utility will need in a few years anyway for a reverse-osmosis plant it intends to build, Gore explained.</p><p>“Some of us are sold on the science, some aren't,” Gore conceded.</p><p>The history of Piney Point, where previous mishaps have led to fish kills and algal blooms, fuels the skepticism.</p><p>“Trust me, if something's going to happen, it's going to happen on that site,” Commissioner Carol Whitmore said. “It makes me nervous Manatee County is going to be the test case.”</p><p>Commissioner Robin DiSabatino agreed. “I want to avoid sending Manatee County into bankruptcy trying to clean this up,” she said.</p><p>From the audience, not a single speaker expressed support for the well.</p><p>Dick Eckenrod, the former director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, said he intended to. But, after listening to the dialogue, he said, “I'm getting on the bandwagon to put a brake on this thing.”</p><p>He suggested exploring alternatives, such as reverse-osmosis. Noting the resilience of estuaries, Eckenrod said a measured, controlled release of the phosphogypsum water aboveground should also be considered.</p><p>“There's no such thing as a stable geological environment,” said David Woodhouse, who introduced himself as a geologist and former consultant with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.</p><p>Woodhouse referred to some of the contents in the phosphogypsum water, such as radium, heavy metals, ammonia and phosphorous, which, although they do not meet the concentrations to be classified as “hazardous,” can still be toxic.</p><p>“We're dealing with some nasty stuff here. If something goes wrong, someone is going to be paying,” he said. “I'm a taxpayer, and I don't want to be paying.”</p><p>The DEP's Klena said the commissioners could request financial help from Manatee's legislative delegation.</p><p>In the meantime, they asked their staff and Klena to compile a list of alternatives, and their costs.</p><p>EARLIER: State Department of Environmental Protection officials and Manatee County utility planners sought today to reassure the public that a plan to inject hundreds of millions of gallons of treated waste water from the former Piney Point contaminated site will pose no threat to farmers and other residents.</p><p>The state DEP and Manatee County staff have recommended a plan to inject the treated into the Florida aquifer in an area below and separate from the part of the aquifer from which the county gets drinking water and irrigation.</p><p>About 75 people were in attendance at today's Manatee County Commission workshop.</p><p>Some commissioners have expressed skepticism about the plan. And the local Farm Bureau is strongly opposed.</p><p>But state and county officials said today that similar wells are operating problem-free around Florida. They said other options, including disposing of the treated waste into local surface waters, posed far greater risk.</p><p>Residents are expected to comment later today.</p><p><i>Check back at HeraldTribune.com for more on this developing story. </i></p>